


Beat It Out

by PepperF



Series: Diego whump [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Diego off being a vigilante, Gen, Whumptober 2020, and getting his ass kicked
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperF/pseuds/PepperF
Summary: The sound of a punch to the face, in Diego's experience, is different to the feel of it. It sounds meaty, flat, fleshy—but it feels like rock, like bone, all sharp points and painful angles.
Series: Diego whump [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951318
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Beat It Out

The sound of a punch to the face, in Diego's experience, is different to the feel of it. It sounds meaty, flat, fleshy—but it feels like rock, like bone, all sharp points and painful angles.

He lets the weight of it snap his head around, and when the ringing in his ears subsides, he spits blood on the floor, and feels with his tongue at where his lip has split. 

Then he grins up at his assailant. "You punch like my sister."

Someone behind him jabs him in the kidneys and then kicks the back of his knees, forcing him down. He can't catch himself because of the cable ties binding his wrists behind his back.

"Ow, fuck. Not Allison, she punches like a goddamn rhino. But Vanya, you know? Ow! That's my sister who didn't train with us when we were kids. Did you ever— _oof_ —read her book? We were all pissed at her at the time, but it was the truth."

"Shut up, Hargreeves," grunts the man laying into him.

Diego ignores him. "And, you know, she's—fuck—she's family, what're you gonna do? And, like, most of us can hardly—ugh—hardly string a sentence together, so I'm kinda proud—"

"I told you. To shut _up_." This is accompanied by a particularly hard kick to his solar plexus, so he sensibly decides to lie on the floor for a while, and try to suck in a breath through lungs that suddenly aren't cooperating. "Jesus, this guy."

He lies around, wheezing, while a fairly important discussion takes place. Then he's hauled upright by his arms, nearly dislocating the shoulder that's never been right since the first time he did that, and dragged outside. They put him at the edge of the dock and hold a pistol to his temple.

"Any last words?"

"Oh, now you want me to talk?" he grumbles. "Jesus, I wish you guys would make up your goddamn minds."

"Fucking hell, Hargreeves, would you for once in your life just—"

And that's when the cavalry finally arrives. 

He breaks the cable ties—easy when you know the trick of it—and finally fights back, and there's a glorious, violent few minutes where he allows himself to take payment for every blow they landed. But after the dust settles, he makes his way over to his police...colleagues? Associates? Old friends?

"Hey Rodriguez, I guess you got my message."

"Diego." Rodriguez is busy cuffing a suspect, and doesn't look up. "Give us more notice next time, if you don't want a near-execution experience."

"Nah, I had it handled," he says. And really, he did. He'd had a couple of tricks up his sleeve. He wasn't about to let some nickel-and-dime goons take him out.

"Uh huh. Sure you did."

"Did you get it all? I was worried the beating might damage the electronics."

"It was fine, we heard every word." And finally, Rodriguez looks up and meets his eyes. "You oughta sue whoever told you to grow out your hair, bro."

Diego grins. "Fuck you, man, you wish you had some of this."

"Yeah, yeah." He claps a hand to Diego's shoulder. "See you at Rosie's?"

It's a cop bar. He hasn’t been back, not since... He clears his throat. "Are you finally buying, you cheap bastard?"

"No, fuck you, buy your own goddamn drinks." And that's when Diego knows that the rift caused by Patch's death is finally beginning to heal. "See you later, Diego."

"Yeah, I'll see you around, Rodriguez."


End file.
